Brazil (week 3)

This was the hardest week and for that reason I've been delaying in writing about it...we spent Friday-Wednesday in the city of Cananeia. It's a fishing village on the coast near the border between Parana and Sao Paulo (for your geography buffs).
We arrived at 2pm on Friday, got settled into our upstairs loft area for the week when it started to rain...and rain...and rain...Dan was pretty sure it would last forty days and nights, but luckily this was the one time on the trip he was wrong. First, our accomodations, we were in a 2 bedroom, kitchen, dining/living room, and 2 small bathrooms. This is where we all slept, ate, played games, picked our noses, and whatever other activities went on. Rain in Brazil (at least Cananeia) is a different concept than the Northwest. We go out in the rain, because if you don't you will waste away in your house. However, in Cananeia you stay inside until the rain stops. It rained from 5pm on Friday til mid day on Sunday...can you say stir crazy? We couldn't work on the dock as planned, we couldn't have a Sunday morning program like we hoped, we couldn't even explore the yard of the house because of the rain.
Some things transpired that were mainly a result of cabin fever (I believe) and people just needed to find some alone time and private space. Finally Sunday night we went out for church and it was great. People were super friendly, we sang some songs, introduced ourselves in front of the church, and two people shared testimonies (Ryan and Andrea). Monday was clear and we started to work on the dock. By noon I was exhausted and felt a little sick so I layed down to nap a little. Except for a half hour break for lunch I napped until 6:30 that night! It was the start of the never-ending soar throat, cough, and crummy feel. As we all sat around in this cramped house bathing in each others sickness I became beyond ready to leave for our next sight. We left Wednesday and I slept through most of the bumpiest bus ride I've ever been on as we went back to Sao Paulo for the night.
Our time spent in Cananeia was one of the most challenging times as I struggled with a sense of helplessness, useslessness, sickness, and just being fed up with how much sickness was spreading throughout the group. My poor buddy lost her voice! Sorry Katie! There are good things to take away from the week, such as the hospitality of the family who lived below us and cooked for us despite us only working one day on the dock. Or seeing the love that they have for their four year old child who has some sort of developmental disability. Or how about the fact that God can use you despite the rain?:)